Hartford Investment Management Co. Cuts Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.7%, now owning 18,545 shares valued at approximately $13.13 million.
• Insider selling has been notable, with COO John E. Waldron and EVP John F.W. Rogers offloading significant shares, indicating potential shifts in confidence among management.
• Goldman Sachs recently announced an increased quarterly dividend from $3.00 to $4.00, equating to an annual yield of 2.0%.

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,545 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 516 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $13,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 2,485 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,086 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 2,020 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,877 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,211,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,463,679.48. This represents a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total value of $4,310,079.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $665.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS stock opened at $794.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $745.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $644.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.41. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year high of $825.25.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The business's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $4.00 dividend. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is currently 35.26%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Profile

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in financing under securities to resale agreements.

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